From vision to action

GM, Kresge get ball rolling to transform riverfront

By Nancy Kaffer

ANDREW TEMPLETON

GM, Kresge get ball rolling to transform riverfront The Detroit RiverWalk stretches toward Rivard Plaza's canopies and the Renaissance Center, a far cry from the scrap metal and concrete that once filled the area. A photo from back then, courtesy of the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, highlights the differences. See similar “then and now” views at crainsdetroit.com/livingd.

Fifteen years ago, the Detroit riverfront wasn't a destination for anyone. For much of the city's history, the riverfront had been occupied by industry, a trio of cement silos among its key landmarks.

Now, it's easy to look at Detroit's riverfront and see a transformation.

Projects such as Rivard Plaza, Chene Park and the Dequindre Cut point to a riverfront bustling with life. Getting to that point took private investment, public investment and a plan.

Everyone seemed to agree that something should happen. But when it came to what and how, it was hard to reach consensus. Attempts were made in the 1990s when the city began to acquire land for a downtown riverfront casino district. But that plan went nowhere, leaving the riverfront, as usual, in limbo.

All that started to change in 1996, when General Motors Corp. bought the Renaissance Center.

Cullen

"There were two or three things we said we were going to do: make it a world-class global headquarters and open it up to the water and the city," said Matt Cullen, Detroit RiverFront Conservancy chairman and Rock Ventures COO who was then head of real estate for GM.

The RenCen, he said, "had big, ugly berms in front. There was no Wintergarden, and you couldn't walk from the Renaissance Center to the water. What is it, 50 yards?"

The streets around the RenCen were broken, dotted with abandoned cars, Cullen said.

GM was willing to put cash into the riverfront, adding about $25 million to its Renaissance Center development efforts. And when the Troy-based Kresge Foundation expressed interest in making a donation for a transformational project in the city of Detroit, Cullen pitched the riverfront.

It was the right time to act, Cullen said.

The administration of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had just rejected the city's plan to build waterfront casinos, but the land the city had acquired was still available.

ANDREW TEMPLETON

The old cement silos along the river (handheld photo) were costly to remove, but they were considered the most important former industrial elements to eliminate.

"I said: 'Look, if we move right now, we have a moment in time where we can transform the riverfront," Cullen said. "If we don't do this right now, all this property is going to get sold off, and people will build something right up to the water's edge. If we as a community don't do this, we're not getting the opportunity again."

Then-Kresge CEO John Marshall agreed, and the foundation gave a $50 million challenge grant to the project -- the largest single donation in the foundation's history. From there, a blue-ribbon commission formed in 2002 led to the creation of what is now known as the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy.

The conservancy began with a grand vision: Connect 5½ miles of waterfront to create a community space.

Conservancy leaders visited waterfronts around the world to learn best practices. The conservancy held community meetings.

"One of the key first steps was land assembly," said RiverFront Conservancy President and CEO Faye Nelson. "We had to decide, of this 5½-mile vision, we had to identify what would be the first phase of our vision."

The first phase, she said, was the 3½-half mile stretch that would become the east riverfront, from Joe Louis Arena to just east of Belle Isle's Douglas MacArthur Bridge.

"With regard to land assembly, we were very, very fortunate to have all seven of the private property owners on the waterfront donate land to us by way of a conservation easement," Nelson said.

Assembling land and finding the funds to carry out projects wasn't the conservancy's only job, Nelson said. "The other component we had was raising dollars," she said. "We had to raise dollars to ensure we could continue to take care of what we develop, what we build."

Raising funds and completing construction projects on a formerly industrial riverfront has been challenging, Cullen said. Getting the project off the ground was an even bigger challenge.

Still, he said, the mutual excitement over developing the riverfront made it possible.

And though the process is far from over, Cullen said, the project has altered not just the riverfront but the Detroit community.

"When this began 10 years ago, there was not a place in the city of Detroit that you would see anybody walking a dog or pushing a baby carriage. It just didn't happen," he said.

"As important as the physical improvements are, as they will be in creating economic development, we created a place that didn't exist in the city before, where people could come together and interact with each other and enjoy the space in a common way."

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If you enjoy the content on the Crain's Detroit Business Web site and want to see more, try 8 issues of our print edition risk-free. If you wish to continue, you will receive 44 more issues (for a total of 52 in all), including the annual Book of Lists for just $59. That's over 55% off the cover price. If you decide Crain's is not for you, just write "Cancel" on the invoice, return it and owe nothing. The 8 issues are yours to keep with no further obligation to us. Sign up below.